1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a convex mirror designed for use in a supermarket, shop, etc., and more particularly to such a convex mirror which facilitates installation to save much installation labor and time and, which assures installation stability and avoids deformation of the component parts after installation.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,327 discloses a convex mirror entitled “convex lens assembly”, which issued to the present invention. This design of convex lens assembly, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, is generally comprised of a back board 71, an acrylic convex lens 72, a ball head connecting rod 73, a ball socket 74, a ball socket cover 75, and a nut 76. During installation, the ball head of the front end 731 of the ball head connecting rod 73 is set in the rounded recess 741 of the ball socket 74, and then the circular base 751 of the socket cover 75 is fixedly fastened to the screw holes 742 of the ball socket 74 by screws 743. After the ball head connecting rod 73, the ball socket 74 and the ball socket cover 75 are fastened together, the locating strips 752 of the socket cover 75 are respectively inserted through the locating notches 711; 712; 713 of the back board 71, and then nuts 76 are threaded onto threads 7521 at an outer side. When the locating strips 752 of the socket cover 75 are inserted through the locating notches, a nut 76 is threaded onto the threads 7521 of the locating strips 752 to fix the socket cover 75 to the back board 71. Thereafter, the rim 721 of the convex lens 72 is forced into a front mounting groove 714 of the back board 71 and secured in place by a protruding portion 715 of the back board 71 (see FIG. 3), and then the screw rod 732 at the other end of the ball head connecting rod 73 is fastened to a bracket 8. This design of convex mirror still has room for improvement as follows:
1. When attaching the circular base 751 of the socket cover 75 to the ball socket 74 after insertion of the ball head of the front end 731 of the ball head connecting rod 73 into the rounded recess 741 of the ball socket 74, the ball head connecting rod 73 tends to move, and it will be difficult to insert the screws 743 through the circular base 751 of the socket cover 75 into the screw holes 742 of the ball socket 74, wasting much installation labor and time.
2. After ball head connecting rod 73, the ball socket 74 and the ball socket cover 75 have been fastened together, the locating strips 752 of the socket cover 75 must be respectively inserted through the locating notches 711; 712; 713 of the back board 71, and a nut 76 must be used and threaded onto the threads 7521 of the locating strips 752 to fix the socket cover 75 to the back board 71. When threading the nut 76 onto the threads 7521 of the locating strips 752, the locating strips 752 may displace, and therefore a special tool must be used to hold the locating strips 752 in place for allowing the nut 76 to be threaded onto the threads 7521 of the locating strips 752 positively.
3. The convex lens 72 is fastened to the back board 71 by means of forcing the rim 721 of the convex lens 72 into a front mounting groove 714 of the back board 71 without the use of any screws. However, because the convex lens 72 has a certain dimension, it is difficult to force the whole rim 721 of the convex lens 72 into a front mounting groove 714 of the back board 71. After installation, the convex lens 72 may be forced away from the back board 71 accidentally by an impact.